Let's not get it twisted !

Published: October 3, 2014, 1:10 am

Ebola crisis: How did the virus get into the US?

A Liberian man is the first person to be diagnosed with the deadly Ebola virus on US soil. So how did he arrive undetected and what are the risks to Americans?

The outbreak gripping West Africa is the world's worst, killing 3,338 people so far.

There have been 7,178 confirmed cases, with Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea suffering the most.

This case in the US is thought to be the first outside West Africa involving this strain of Ebola.

Who is the new patient in the US?

Only one person has been diagnosed with the virus while in the US.

Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian national, tested positive in Dallas, Texas, on 30 September.

He worked as a driver for a courier service and lived in the Paynesville 72nd Community suburb of Monrovia.

On 20 September, he arrived in Dallas to visit relatives and is now in a serious condition in an isolation unit at a hospital in the city.

Is he the first person in the US to have Ebola?

No, a small number of American aid workers who contracted the virus while abroad have recovered after flying back to the US for treatment. But Mr Duncan is the first diagnosed within the US.

Three of the aid workers were colleagues at the same hospital in Liberia. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol were flown back to Atlanta for treatment, while Rick Sacra, a family doctor from Massachusetts, recovered in Nebraska.

Ms Writebol said resources at the hospital where they worked were insufficient to protect workers.

On Thursday, it also emerged that a US journalist - a writer and cameraman - had tested positive in Liberia and will be flown home by NBC News.

A month after returning to the US, Ms Writebol was well enough to speak to reporters

Entry #388

Comments

LiLSpeedy - Oct 3, 2014, 1:18 am

Leave it to uninformed idiots to start pointing fingers. Fear causes some people to start acting like scared, paranoid, and cry-baby pussies.

Lucky Loser - Oct 3, 2014, 1:39 pm

Once again, very accurately stated Speedy. However, here is where my struggle is. With such an epidemic in that region, outside of aid workers no one else should be allowed to travel to and from there. There reason I say that is because people infected must travel a certain way in order to not infect others IF they already display symptoms. If you don't have a cold yet, you can't give anyone a cold. Once coughing, sneezing, feverish etc. you're a 'carrier.' In my opinion, anyone traveling from that region should undergo some reasonable basic testing for the virus before being allowed to travel abroad.

Even then, though, the virus can still gain momentum after not necessarily showing up initially. In Duncan's case, though, it seems he lied about his apparent 'closeness' to the disease on his exit papers. You're right, though, there was talk of blaming the President for this guy getting here, and, conspiring to bring ebola to the states on purpose. Then, they tried to blame government due to the border issues. They wanna tie everything in to current leadership and it's plain silly...and wrong. Instead of using common sense and locating the source of the problem, they simply do what's so popular and SO OLD and WORN OUT. Here are some links to peep at...the two last in particular:

http://www.vox.com/2014/10/1/6878695/ebola-virus-outbreak-symptoms

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottgottlieb/2014/09/03/can-ebola-go-airborne/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/02/liberia-ebola-patient-thomas-duncan-airport-screening/16591753/

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/10/01/Immigration-Expert-Obama-John-Kerry-HHS-DHS-Secretaries-Personally-Responsible-For-Not-Stopping-Ebola-Patient-Getting-Into-U-S

Let's not get it twisted !

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